First Guests of the Season

Our friends, Ernie Gaschler and Carol Levine, just left after spending a fun filled long weekend with us. Ernie and Carol live in California during the winter and summer in Chatham. They arrived friday afternoon from Palm Desert bearing gifts of food and wine. Good way to start the weekend. After they had spent all day in the car, we just decided to chill and plan the activities for the next few days. We started with the Fay Canyon trail. Nice flat hike that ends at a box canyon. I suppose one could go further but I never have.

We left Fay Canyon heading for the ruins at Honanki but decided to take a detour through the famous gulches of previous posts. After climbing up out of the last deep gulch we came to the top of the hill and came across this charming young lady practicing her cello. She said she just loved the spot and has hiked in to play in the red rock ambiance. A friend suggested she have a tip jar which she has now. She camps near by and uses the tips for food.

Then off to Honanki, a site of Hopi Indian ruins nestled under a cliff. This is really a special place and we love visiting it. Besides the ruins there are tons of pictographs from the various inhabitants of the dwellings

We left there and took the "back road" through the wilderness. At one point a Toyota with Nevada plates came from the other direction and stopped us. He asked if I knew how to get back to the main dirt road. I told him to turn around and go back the way he came from, which was where we were heading. He told me that the road ended and there was nothing but a track where everyone turned around. I assured him that there was a road and finally convinced him to follow me. I had a tow rope if needed. I know what he was feeling as I had the same impression the first time I took this road. Click here for that blog entry. When we got through, his wife took a picture of us and we all went on our way.

This little adventure took us most of the day, so we went to take some photos at Cathedral Rock. It was beautiful late in the day.

On Sunday, Ernie bought dinner at the outdoor barbecue at Basha's which lasted us through 2 1/2 meals. We wrapped things up with a visit to more Indian Rock Art and the fascinating Montezuma's Well. On the way home, we had time for one more quick hike out to the cowpies on Schnebley Hill. Ernie took a photo of the Jeep negotiating a bit of the slick rock before we finally wrapped up the day and the weekend at the Oak Creek Brewery.

We all had a great time and look forward to more jeep activities on the beach in Sandwich this summer.